Giant woodwasp
Urocerus gigas
- Group
- Harmless lookalike
- Size
- bis 45 mm
- Risk
- No danger
- Protection status
- Not protected
- Identifying features
-
- Sawfly
- Cylindrical, black-and-yellow body
- Long yellow antennae
- Females have a long ovipositor
- Ovipositor cannot penetrate human skin
- Harmless
The giant woodwasp (Urocerus gigas) looks threatening because of its size and the long ovipositor of the female, but it is a completely harmless sawfly with no sting.
Identifying features
- Size: up to 45 mm; including the ovipositor, one of the largest native wasp species
- Body: cylindrical in shape, with black-and-yellow markings
- Antennae: long and yellow
- Females: with a strikingly long ovipositor used to lay eggs in dead wood
Risk
None: the giant woodwasp has no sting. The female’s long ovipositor serves solely to lay eggs deep inside wood and cannot penetrate human skin.
Protection status in Switzerland
The giant woodwasp is not legally protected in Switzerland.
What to do about a nest
The giant woodwasp does not build a nest; it lays its eggs individually in softwood. No intervention is needed, as this insect poses no danger whatsoever.